| 1, 2001 | Productive Structure, Cost Efficiency and Incentives in the Local Public Transport: A Survey of Theoretical and Empirical Issues |
| autori | Massimiliano
PIACENZA Università La Sapienza di Roma, Ceris CNR, HERMES |
| abstract | The paper reviews both the relevant economic theory and the econometric evidence analyzing the productive structure of Local Public Transport (LPT) industry. It highlights the main implications of the empirical studies concerning: i] better knowledge of the technology (cost ‘function’ approach); ii] evaluation of firms’ x-efficiency (cost ‘frontier’ approach); and iii] possible determinants of the deviations from the theoretical goal of cost minimization. A particular emphasis is put on some recent contributions (Dalen and Gomez-Lobo, 1995 and 1997; Gagnepain and Ivaldi, 1998 and 1999) which, in the light of the theoretical predictions of the new regulatory economics (Laffont & Tirole, 1993), have elaborated “structural” models incorporating the role of institutional constraints and incentive regulation into the empirical analysis of cost structure. We discuss the usefulness of this new approach for studying the specific problems faced by the Italian LPT sector, especially with regards to the ongoing change in the subsidization mechanisms implemented at local level. |
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01/25/2004 19:25